Date: June 16, 2008
Contact: Sara Borchik, 334.844.3591, borchse@auburn.edu

Auburn named National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research

Auburn University is part of the first group of institutions to be named National Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research by the Homeland Security Department and National Security Agency. The honor provides opportunities for Auburn to receive federal funding for information assurance research.

Universities designated as Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education [CAEs] and Centers of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research [CAE-Rs] have the opportunity to apply for scholarships and grants through federal information assurance scholarship programs.

The CAE-R program grew out of the CAE program which recognizes schools active in information assurance research and teaching. The federal agencies work to promote better ways to secure the global IT infrastructure against various threats. The program also is expected to help DHS, NSA and other agencies learn about academic advances in information assurance technologies.

 

This designation recognizes information assurance programs in computer science and software engineering, electrical and computer engineering, management, mathematics and poultry science. Drew Hamilton, director of the Auburn Information Assurance Center (ia.auburn.edu) is the principal investigator for the CAE-R program at Auburn. 

The new designations bring the total number of CAE-Rs to 23 located in 17 states and the District of Columbia. They are:

  • Auburn University
  • Boston University
  • Dartmouth College
  • George Mason University
  • George Washington University
  • Indiana University
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Mississippi State University
  • Missouri University of Science and Technology
  • North Carolina State University
  • Northeastern University
  • Oklahoma State University
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • Polytechnic University
  • Stevens Institute of Technology
  • University of California at Davis
  • University of California, Irvine
  • University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
  • University of Maryland, Baltimore County
  • University of North Carolina, Charlotte
  • University of Pittsburgh
  • University of Texas at Dallas
  • University of Washington

The 23 schools the agencies named as flagships of research on responses to disasters threatening the country's information technology infrastructure will hold their initial designations through 2013.